This is the blog for Matt Hollingsworth. I'm from Ojai, California. I've worked in comics for 22 years as a color artist.

This blog will largely be used to show my daily life as I live in Samobor, Croatia and as I travel around the region. Lots and lots of photos! Leave me a comment, will you?

All content on this blog is copyright 2013 Matthew Dale Hollingsworth and cannot be copied or used for any purpose without my consent.

Saturday, January 26, 2008

I've been very busy. So I haven't posted in a while. But I'm back!

I went to California in December to go through my storage unit. I donated most stuff, threw some stuff away, sold some things and shipped 4.5 cubic meters of my belongings to Croatia. Those things arrived yesterday and I should be picking them up soon.

Being in LA was hell. I hate it there. It was nice to see my friends, though.

Since returning, work has been pretty steadily heavy. I bought a new Wacom Cintiq 12 inch and have been warming up to my new toy. It's pretty great. For those who don't know, a Cintiq is a tablet for painting that has a monitor built right into it, so your drawing is directly under your hand. Very cool.

And, of course, I've been absorbed by the primary elections in the States. I don't usually write about politics here as I want this bog to be more about culture and sharing good things rather than arguing over policy or candidates or whatnot. But, I've gotta break that silence.

I strongly dislike Hillary Clinton and feel that if she wins she will be a bad President. People are nostalgic for Bill Clinton. But this is simple because Bush is SO retarded and SUCH a bad president. He's fucked. So Bill, by comparison seems amazing. But he wasn't. He was nothing stellar and in fact dragged the Democrats to the right by co-opting Republican policies and claiming them as his own. I, for one do not miss him. And for those stating that Hillary is her own candidate, please. Gimme a break. She's the worst kind of disingenuous politician there is. She's full of shit. Her and her husband seek out power for its own sake. They aren't merely seeking to help people out as they so often say.

Barack Obama is by FAR the better candidate. He's shown regularly and consistently that he thinks out issues and makes a decision based on a strong ability to understand the issues and what's best for his constituents.

But, to be honest, I am more against Hillary than I am for Obama. I don't want my entire life ruled by rotating dynasties of bad presidencies. What, we'll have had Bush-Clinton-Bush-Clinton? Then what? Jeb Bush runs in 8 years? Fuck that. It's already been 20 years of 2 families running the States and that's more than enough for me. Give the next generation a chance.

And, if you doubt that Hillary will do anything to seek out power, check this out:

CLINTON TRIES TO REINSTATE MICHIGAN AND FLORIDA'S DELEGATES.

This is a very, very, very big deal. From the Clinton campaign:

I hear all the time from people in Florida and Michigan that they want their voices heard in selecting the Democratic nominee.

I believe our nominee will need the enthusiastic support of Democrats in these states to win the general election, and so I will ask my Democratic convention delegates to support seating the delegations from Florida and Michigan. I know not all of my delegates will do so and I fully respect that decision. But I hope to be President of all 50 states and U.S. territories, and that we have all 50 states represented and counted at the Democratic convention.

I hope my fellow potential nominees will join me in this.

I will of course be following the no-campaigning pledge that I signed, and expect others will as well.


This is the sort of decision that has the potential to tear the party apart. In an attempt to retain some control over the process and keep the various states from accelerating their primaries into last Summer, the Democratic National Committee warned Michigan and Florida that if they insisted on advancing their primary debates, their delegates wouldn't be seated and the campaigns would be asked not to participate in their primaries. This was agreed to by all parties (save, of course, the states themselves).

With no one campaigning, Clinton, of course, won Michigan -- she was the only Democrat to be on the ballot, as I understand it, which is testament to the other campaign's beliefs that the contest wouldn't count -- and will likely win Florida. And because the race for delegates is likely to be close, she wants those wins to matter. So she's fighting the DNC's decision, and asking her delegates -- those she's already won, and those she will win -- to overturn it at the convention. She's doing so right before Florida, to intensify her good press in the state, where Obama is also on the ballot. And since this is a complicated, internal-party matter that sounds weird to those not versed in it (of course Michigan and Florida should count!), she's adding a public challenge that, if the other Democrats deny, will make them seem anti-Michigan and Florida.

But if this pushes her over the edge, the Obama camp, and their supporters, really will feel that she stole her victory. They didn't contest those states because they weren't going to count, not because they were so committed to the DNC's procedural arguments that they were willing to sacrifice dozens of delegates to support it. It's as hard as hardball gets, and the end could be unimaginably acrimonious. Imagine if African-American voters feel the rules were changed to prevent Obama's victory, if young voters feel the delegate counts were shifted to block their candidate.

Ezra Klein

7 comments:

Nat Weinham said...

Hey Yo Matt, I'm curious what you think of this John Edwards interview. Puddletown's cold and dry, about to get wetter. Work hard!

Marc Hudgins said...

Cintiq FTW! They bought me the 21" at work and it's made it damn near impossible to go back to a normal tablet at home. How does the 12" stack up? I hear it's not as portable as the hype might imply.

Obama yes -Hillary uh-uh. I can't believe the degree to which Bill is willing to soil what was becoming a very rosey legacy. His recent race-bating has been shocking. Personally the Clinton years were good to me and mine so to be sure there's a certain amount of nostalgia for the 90's, but to be honest I never want to see another boomer in office again -time for a less polarized, less self-centered generation to move in. And can you imagine that we might have an attractive first lady for once?

Rick said...

Hi Matt,
I read your experience of registering a business in Croatia with growing interest, as I am about to go down that road myself. I recently spent 3 months in the country sussing out opportunities for the establishment of an adventure tour program, on behalf of my foreign employer. Anyway I think the place rocks and has great potential for our program. I've had to do the lickety-split, as my time was up, and am now enjoying the Australian summer.

After meeting with embassy officials in Oz I'm feeling a little intimidated by the mountain of paperwork which is associated with registering a company (in my case a branch office) in Croatia. While I cannot re-enter Croatia on a travel visa before mid-march, I'm keen to get the ball rolling with the application ASAP. I'm seeking the advice of an english speaking immigration attorney/lawyer in Croatia to assist me with the application process. I am wondering if you have any contacts from your experience you could please put me in touch with? Any inside advice would be greatly appreciated. Cheers, mate.

Matt Hollingsworth said...

Hey guys,

Nat, haven't had a chance to watch that Edwards video. But he's a bit too far left for me personally. Gave him money in 2004, though. Gave the money to Obama instead this time.

Marc: The Cintiq seems pretty portable to me. It's way lighter than the larger ones. It's about the size of a laptop, a little bigger. It's just got this power coverter that's extra to carry, but that's not at all big. The wire's a bit long and unwieldy, though.

Rick, yes I have contact for a lawyer if you want. But you'll have to e-mail me. There's a link on this blog at lower left for e-mailing me. But, be aware, having a business here is a huge pain in the ass in my opinion. I don't think I will keep one once I don't need one. They tax pretty heavily and are not a very business friendly country. Too much red tape and hassle. I'm in the process of renewing my visa now and it's a lot of BS with the business. And book keepers are also expensive for a business. Also be aware that it cost me somewhere in the region of $4000 in lawyers fees for having the company set up and getting my visa, everything included. It's not cheap.

stefano gaudiano said...

hey, Chelsea should be old enough if Jeb follows Hillary (for a total of four terms)! and there's plenty of Bushes that might step in in 2032.

Unknown said...

Hi Matt again. I just read further into your blog your comments about registering a business in Croatia and tax issues. We have to import our car from Sarajevo for almost half the cost of the car, if we cannot figure a way around it. but I am not complaining yet, I have spent the past decade squirming in and out of the bureaucracy here in Bosnia. Anyway I also wanted to ask you if you are paying employment taxes in Croatia and US? I know there is an exclusion in the US if you do not spend more than 33 days in the US, but the question is how much is the Croatian gov taking? How are you registered as a resident in Croatia? was it necessary that you set up a business to get registered? We would really like to hear more details about how you have managed all this and what you learned along the way... please email me, if you can??

Matt Hollingsworth said...

Elizabeth, when I click on your name, it says your profile is hidden. I cannot contact you, sorry. Please e-mail me at this address:

mattt1138 at hotmail dot com